Dortmund Table £19.5m Bid for Liverpool Midfielder Target

Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin claims Borussia Dortmund have tabled a £19.5m offer for midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenia international has been strongly linked with a move to Liverpool in recent weeks but the Bundesliga giants, who are looking to replace Bayern Munich-bound playmaker Mario Gotze, have now swooped for him.
Mkhitaryan has so far failed to report for Shakhtar's summer training camp in Austria and now the Ukrainians are ready to let go of the 24-year-old, if they receive offers in the region of £25m from any of his suitors.
"I don't know where Mkhitaryan is, now; solely his agent knows this. Borussia offered €23m (£19.5m) for the midfielder. I contacted Mkhitaryan's agent yesterday. I wrote to him about the official position of the club," Palkin pointed out.
"We are prepared to sell Mkhitaryan for €30m (£25m); this offer stands for the next 10 days. If Mkhitaryan wishes to leave, they have to pay this amount for him. €30m, one installment. If there is a club that can pay that amount, we are ready to make a deal," the Shakhtar chief added.

It was understood that Mkhitaryan was due to arrive Melwood last week for a medical, ahead of a £23m move, but the deal was held up since Shakhtar reportedly do not own all of his rights. However, Palkin has now played down the speculation and revealed that Liverpool are yet to make contact with them for the player's services.
"I am certain that the negotiations between them is just rumour. No offer for Mkhitaryan has been made at Shakhtar. As you know, there have been too many different conversations about Henrikh Mkhitaryan. But the situation has been strongly and artificially inflated. I can say that we have had no communication from any member of Liverpool," Palkin stressed.
Mkhitaryan, who arrived in Donetsk from Pyunik Yerevan in 2009, scored 25 goals from 28 league appearances for Shakhtar last season. ------------------------- sports&stars